Practicing Sustainability: Evaluation and Redesign of a Capstone Course Entitled “Integrated Natural Resources Planning”
Location
Rees / High County Conference Center
Event Website
http://digitalcommons.usu.edu/nrei/vol12/
Start Date
3-16-2004 2:30 PM
End Date
3-16-2004 3:00 PM
Description
This paper presents our progress to-date in evaluating and redesigning a senior-level capstone course for the integrated core curriculum in the College of Natural Resources (CNR) at the University of Idaho. This course, entitled “Integrated Natural Resources Planning,” is now being taught for the 9th semester to all College seniors. The course focuses on: understanding complex issues such as sustainability and ecological integrity; assessing alternatives for management where issues are currently contentious; planning for programmatic implementation; and refining students’ skills in working in teams, critical thinking, writing, and speaking. We first describe the history of the course, and then report some key results of evaluation research to assess its past effectiveness. The purpose of this research has been to further develop and improve upon the course over the last semester. The paper also describes changes currently being made in the course and their perceived effectiveness to-date, which are founded on a teaching approach of a sequential, building process of reviewing and applying resource management topics, skills, and planning exercises.
Practicing Sustainability: Evaluation and Redesign of a Capstone Course Entitled “Integrated Natural Resources Planning”
Rees / High County Conference Center
This paper presents our progress to-date in evaluating and redesigning a senior-level capstone course for the integrated core curriculum in the College of Natural Resources (CNR) at the University of Idaho. This course, entitled “Integrated Natural Resources Planning,” is now being taught for the 9th semester to all College seniors. The course focuses on: understanding complex issues such as sustainability and ecological integrity; assessing alternatives for management where issues are currently contentious; planning for programmatic implementation; and refining students’ skills in working in teams, critical thinking, writing, and speaking. We first describe the history of the course, and then report some key results of evaluation research to assess its past effectiveness. The purpose of this research has been to further develop and improve upon the course over the last semester. The paper also describes changes currently being made in the course and their perceived effectiveness to-date, which are founded on a teaching approach of a sequential, building process of reviewing and applying resource management topics, skills, and planning exercises.
https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/cuenr/5thBiennial/Sessions/29
Comments
Session 13. Assessment/Learning Approaches. Recommended Citation: Harris, Chuck; Seekamp, Erin; and Fins, Lauren (2004) "Practicing sustainability: Evaluation and redesign of a capstone course entitled "Integrated Natural Resources Planning"," Natural Resources and Environmental Issues: Vol. 12, Article 21. Available at: http://digitalcommons.usu.edu/nrei/vol12/iss1/21